You don’t have to brave the herd at Starbucks or order some crazy contraption off of Amazon to enjoy the rejuvenating elixir, because today I am going to show you how to make cold brew coffee with a French press.

What You Will Need

Bottom link: Water, a french press, and fresh ground coffee

Here is a quick list of all the things you will need to create your French press cold brewed coffee:

Most obvious, you will need a French press. My favorite is the Colorful Brew French press, a 34 ounce coffee maker that will work just perfectly for this recipe.

To grind up those beans, you’ll need a grinder. I recommend the Baratza Virtuoso burr grinder, but if you use your own, just make sure it can produce an extra-coarse grind.

Although it is not entirely necessary, a good scale will help you maintain accuracy (the key to tasty coffee) in your brew. Click here to see my top recommendations for coffee scales.

You will need 3 ¾ cups (887 ml) of filtered, room temperature water. (Interested in learning what's the best water for your coffee? Check this complete article here.)

You will also need a sealable container, no smaller than your French press, to pour your brew into.

You may want to have some type of fine filter, though this isn’t an absolute necessity.

In regards to the French press, feel free to use whichever you already have (or want to buy). The Colorful Brew is my favorite, but just about any (like the popular Bodum Chambord 34 oz. French press) will do.

For the (optional) fine filter, this could be anything from a cheese cloth to a Chemex dripper with paper filters. This will simply serve as a secondary filter to screen out any sediment that your French press might let through.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee in a French Press

Now that you (hopefully) have all your ingredients, let’s dive into the recipe!

Step #1 — Measure and Grind

Get your beans ready. The correct coffee to water ratio for cold brewing is between 1:5 or 1:4, depending on how strong you like it.

For this tutorial, we will use 90 grams (a little less than a cup) of coarsely ground coffee, which is just a scaled down ratio from the Toddy cold brew recipe.

The cold brew grind is the coarsest grind of all coffee brews, and it should be slightly larger than a French press grind. Make sure you have a good burr grinder to help you out here.

Once you have your grounds, pour it all into the French press.

Step #2 — Just Add Water

Fill up your French press with 3 ¾ cups (887 ml) of filtered water — pouring in a slow, circular motion — but do not stir.

Instead, use the back of a metal spoon (to prevent any sticking) to press down on any grounds floating near the top, ensuring that all the grounds have been submerged.

Step #3 — The Long Wait

This step is the easiest, but also the most frustrating.

You will now need to let your brew sit at room temperature for no less than 12 hours.

In comparison to the standard hot brewing methods, cold brewing replaces heat with time to achieve an adequate extraction.

Letting your grounds soak for half a day will release all the flavors and oils trapped inside your beans.

Although you want your coffee now, do not rush this process, or else you will end up with a decanter full of slightly coffee-flavored water.

Step #4 — Pour and Filter

Now that you’ve survived the long hours waiting for your cold brew to finish, it is ready to decant.

Start by placing the French press’s top on, and pushing the plunger down only a few inches, allowing it some stability for the upcoming pour.

You don’t want to push it all the way down, because this will agitate the grounds and cause them to release their more bitter-tasting solubles.

With the screen in place you can now pour your fresh brew into the large, sealable container.

If you’ve ever used a French press before, you know the metal screen isn’t the best at keeping out all the sediment from your brew; therefore, you may want to use a secondary filter. You can use almost any pour over dripper for this — like the Hario v60 — or you can loosely tie a piece of cheesecloth around the opening of your container and pour through it.

Step #5 — Enjoy!

Whichever way you go, one filter or two, once you’ve decanted your brew you are now ready to enjoy!

When preparing your cup, remember that cold brew is incredibly concentrated, and that you should dilute it with a few ice cubes and a splash (or two) of water.

Now that your refreshment is ready, sit back, embrace the sun, and start planning what you’ll do on this fine summer day!

Cold brew coffee, although time consuming, is one of the easiest and most versatile brew methods, and anyone can make it at home. And as you’re now aware, you don’t need a cold brew coffee maker to create it!

Why “just less than a cup” of coffee and “3-3/4 cups of water”? Why not rounding to 1 cup of coffee and 4 cups of water. As a former chemist I like accurate measurements even in the kitchen. Just a suggestion. Thanks for your info.

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Kyle - October 30, 2018

I think this recipe is way off, I find that 232 mL ground coffee to 843 mL water makes a far superior brew. Just make sure you dilute your tap water with melted Himalayan glacier water at a ratio of 1:3.47 or your chi will explode. 🙂

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